Orders of the Day - Let the conversation(s) begin!

When he first brought forward
his proposal to set up a special committee to study how the Criminal
Code currently defines "human being", Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth
was adamant,
if oddly elliptical, that he wasn't attempting to reopen the abortion
debate, but simply wanted to "start the conversation," and judging from
the impassioned response that his gambit has garnered thus far, it would
be fair to declare that particular mission accomplished, despite the
fact that the government has made it clear from the start that the motion itself is all but doomed to defeat.

Before that day comes, however, the Woodworth motion will spend a couple
of hours in the parliamentary spotlight, the first of which is
scheduled to unfold this evening, when Woodworth gets his first
opportunity to formally make his case for a "conversation" to the
Chamber as a whole. Under the rules that govern private members' hour,
he will have fifteen minutes to put his arguments on the record, which
will be followed by five minutes of questions and comments.

After that wraps up, it will be up to other MPs to fill the remaining
forty minutes; when the clock runs out, the motion will drop to the
bottom of the precedent list, with the second -- and final -- hour in
debate likely to take place in June, at the earliest, and very possibly
not until the fall, thus virtually ensuring that its presence on the
Order Paper will continue to bedevil the Prime Minister's Office right
up until it goes up for a vote, particularly if the powers that be persist in their apparent belief that repeating, over and over, that the government has no intention of re-opening of the debate is an effective damage control strategy.

Before all that gets underway, however, the F-35 procurement process will be in the spotlight at Public Accounts, where an appearance by Auditor General Michael Ferguson will kick off.the promised parliamentary inquiry.

Although Ferguson isn't expected to provide much in the way of new
information on the F-35 file -- and, with his preternaturally cautious,
downright bureaucratic approach to the job, even less in the way of
pithy, off-the-cuff commentary in the style of his predecessor, the
sublimely quotable Sheila Fraser -- the mere fact that he will be there
can be chalked up as a symbolic, but satisfying victory for the
opposition, who have spent the last few weeks engaged in a running
battle with their Conservative colleagues over the F-35 witness list,
which reached an apex of acrimony earlier this week when the chair --
NDP MP David Christopherson -- threatened to hand in his gavel unless
Ferguson was invited to appear.

Given the events above, the NDP may find it a challenge to drum up
interest in today's opposition day motion, which will implore the House
to rebuff the government's plot to raise the age of eligibility for Old
Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67 -- a
plea that is, barring a sudden change of heart on the Conservative side
of the Chamber or a particularly ill-timed traffic jam on the Little
Green Bus Route, virtually guaranteed to fail.

Elsewhere on the committee circuit, Conservative backbench MP Brian Storseth's bid to strip the Canadian
Human Rights Commission of the power to investigate complaints related
to online hate speech goes up for clause-by-clause review at Justice, although not before representatives from B'nai Brith Canada get the chance to make their case for the section in question.

Also on the schedule this morning: Procedure and House Affairsgoes behind closed doors to work on a draft report on its findings in the case of Vic Toews vs. Anonymous, and Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart heads toEthics to discuss her annual report, as well as her office budget.

Later this afternoon, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page will take questions from Finance members on his most recent report on the economic and fiscal outlook, which was released earlier this week, and Jason Kenney heads to Citizenship and Immigration to expound on his latest bid to tighten the rules for refugee claimants.
For up to the minute dispatches from the precinct and beyond, keep your
eye on the Parliament Hill Ticker below -- or, alternatively, bookmark
it and check back throughout the day.

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About the Author

Kady O'Malley has been covering the Hill for more than a decade (yes, really) for a variety of publications. An Ottawa girl (not quite born, but raised), she has a passion for politics that borders on the unhealthy, and has liveblogged her way through hundreds of committee meetings, press conferences, judicial inquiries, budget launches, cabinet shuffles, and even the odd constitutional crisis. Oh, and yes, her Boston Terrier really is named "BlackBerry."
For up-to-the-minute bulletins, follow Kady on twitter!